Gallicism
Americannoun
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a French idiom or expression used in another language, as Je ne sais quoi when used in English.
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a feature that is characteristic of or peculiar to the French language.
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a custom or trait considered to be characteristically French.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Gallicism
First recorded in 1650–60; from French gallicisme; see Gallic, -ism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A phrase introduced from France is called a Gallicism; from England, an Anglicism.
From Practical Exercises in English by Buehler, Huber Gray
His style is more deeply tainted with Gallicism than that of any other English writer with whom we are acquainted.
From Critical and Historical Essays — Volume 1 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
This last, however, may be a Gallicism, from étaler.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 25, November, 1859 by Various
But this association proved so helpless that it could not even hinder the invasion of Gallicism in the eighteenth century.
From The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy by Burckhardt, Jacob
English he seemed to write as readily as French, although a strong Gallicism would every now and then slip from his pen, as it slipped from his tongue.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 50, December, 1861 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.